The American Bowling Congress, the regulatory body overseeing bowling sport and competition, requires that dressing oil on a bowling lane meet issued specifications regarding oil thickness. During certain “league” and “sport” sanctioned events, these specifications require that dressing oil be applied to the bowling lane in a manner that gives the oil a specified profile across the lane. The required profile includes a thicker layer of oil at the center portion of the lane, with the oil thickness tapering toward the gutters on each side of the lane, within established limits. To comply with the specifications, maintenance must be performed and a new layer of oil must be applied to the bowling lane on a regular basis.
A typical lane dressing apparatus may have as many as six separate oil tanks associated with cotton or fibrous felt wicks. The wicks are each independently moved by a solenoid to bring the wicks into and out of contact with oil application components. The amount of oil applied to the lane is controlled by the time period that the wick is in contact with these components. By independently moving the wicks, a wick associated with one region of the lane can be held in contact with the application components longer than a wick associated with another region of the lane. Accordingly, to create an oil profile within the American Bowling Congress specifications, wicks associated with the center of the lane are held in contact for longer periods of time than wicks associated with the edges of the lane. So doing provides an oil profile on the lane having a thicker layer of oil in the center portion than on the edges.
However, maintaining six separate tanks and wicks in a single apparatus may be cumbersome, especially when each tank must be separately filled with oil. Further, the six separate tanks and solenoids greatly add to the overall cost of an apparatus. Additionally, programming a controller to operate the movement of six wicks to provide a desired oil profile is tedious. And each time a different profile is desired, the controller must be reprogrammed to activate and deactivate the solenoids at different rates.
An additional problem associated with conventional apparatuses is the consistency of the wicks. The wicks are manufactured of matted cotton or fibrous felt, and provide an inconsistent flow pattern, even in the same piece. Accordingly, creating an oil profile that complies with the specifications set by the American Bowling Congress is difficult and cumbersome.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to at least partially overcome one or more of the disadvantages of the related art.